Room air conditioning apparatus having filter arrangement for independent operation



J. H. POWERS 2,908,147 ROOM AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS HAVING FILTER ARRANGEMENT FOR INDEPENDENT OPERATION Filed April 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 13, 1959 FIG.I

2 E 28 ,./ll E I. Ila. $39 3L INVENTOR- Oct. 13, 1959 I J. H; PQWERS ROOM AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS HAVING FILTER ARRANGEMENT FOR INDEPENDENT OPERATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 8, 1957 PIC-:4

FIGS

INVENTOR.

J'AMES H. POWER 5 H15 lk'r-roautv United States Patent ROOM AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FILTER ARRANGEMENT FOR INDEPENDENT OPERATION James H. Powers, Middletown, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application April 8, 1957, Serial No. 651,362

8 Claims. (Cl. 62-186) through the unit for conditioning the room. A good.

many of these air conditioner units are operated only during the few warm months of the year and consequently the air filtering unit therein'is utilized only during this short period. Even during this period, the air conditioner is operated only at intervals and the air filtering is, therefore, not continuous. Because of this, the usefulness of these expensive air purifying units is not effectively exploited. To be of any real benefit these filters should be arranged such that they can be economically utilized 24 hours a day and for days at a time, if desired. However, the design of many of the present day air conditioners is such that it is uneconomical to operate the unit to obtain the benefit of air filtering alone. That is, the power consumed by circulating the air stream through the remaining components of the apparatus raises the cost of operating such an apparatus to the point where it becomes uneconomical to obtain this air purification, except as a supplemental benefit to the cooling operation. Furthermore, many air conditioners now on the market which also provide means for venting fresh air from the outside to the enclosure, fail to provide means by which this outside air may be passed through the filter prior to being discharged into the enclosure. When this is the case the outside air vented into the enclosure carries with it much of the pollen and dust which present day filters are intended to remove, thereby defeating the purpose of the filter.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved room air conditioning apparatus having a filter and an air flow system which may be operated continuously and economically during the off season without circulating the air stream through the remaining components of the unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner including an improved air moving arrangement for circulating air from within an enclosure through a filter and back into the enclosure which arrangement is operated at: reduced capacity to obtain only filtering of the air under conditions when no cooling is required.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement whereby outside air which is vented into the room through the air conditioning apparatus is passed through the filter prior to being discharged into the enclosure.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

In order to carry out the objects of the present invention there is provided a room air conditioning unit having a compressor, condenser and evaporator arranged in refrigerant flow relationship and having air moving means for blowing separate streams of air through the evaporator and condenser from inside and outside of the enclosure respectively. By means of a suitably'designed air baflie and bypass air duct arrangement, the air stream flowing through the evaporator is circulated within the unit only over the filter before being discharged back into the room. Means are also provided for disconnecting the driving power to the air moving means for circulating the air stream over the condenser and for reducing the velocity of the air moving means for blowing the air stream over "the evaporator thereby providing'both a reduction in'the power consumption of the .unit and a 7 reduction of noise. 7

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a schematic plan view of an air conditioning unit embodying the filter and air flow arrangement of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the air conditioning unit of Fig. 1 with the end casing removed;

Fig. 3 is an elevation view similar to that shown in Fig. 2 illustrating the air flow arrangement for venting outside air through the filter and into the enclosure;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a controlling arrangement whereby power consumption of the unit can be substantially reduced; and

Fig. 5 is another schematic diagram illustrating the controlling arrangement whereby a magnetic clutch is used to disconnect the condenser air moving means.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, there is shown an air conditioning unit comprising a metallic .casing 2 which is.

divided by a barrier member 3 into two separate com-I partments designated the condenser or outer compartment 4 and the evaporator or inner compartment 6. A condenser 7 (shown in Fig. 2) is positioned in the upper extremities of the condenser compartment 4 and an evaporator 8 is located ,within the evaporator compartment 6. The evaporator 8 and condenser 7 are connected in refrigerant flow relationship with a compressor 9 which is also located in the condenser compartment 4. In order to circulate air from. Within the enclosure through the inner or evaporator compartment .6 for cooling the air, there is' provided a fan or air moving means 11 in the lower portion of the evaporator compartment up-' stream from the evaporator. The fan is driven by a shaft 12a from the multispeed motor 12 mounted in the barrier member 3. The'motor 12 is of the type which may operate at a range of different speeds depending upon thecurrent supplied to its windings. Air from the room or enclosure to be conditioned is drawn through the inlet opening 13 and circulated by the fan 11 through the. evaporator compartment, over the evaporator 8 and discharged out the outlet opening 14.

In order to circulate an air stream from the outside 7 .over the condenser '7, a second air moving means or fan 16 is provided in the lower portion of the condenser compartment 4. Air is pulled into the condenser compartment 4 through the lower inlet opening 17 and cir culated upwardly through the compartment and over the conden'ser7 whereupon it is discharged from the unit through the outlet opening 18. As illustrated in Fig. 1, both of the fans 11 and 16 are powered by the same driving means, namely the multispeed motor 12 through the shaft (12 Thisis a common means for driving theseparate fans within the evaporator and condenser compartments, however, separate motors could be used circulated through the scroll 22 must preyi nsJypass,

2,908,147 a ,p g

t 3 to drive each of the fans and the corresponding air flow and'results' accorriplisli'edby'th present invention would be the same, as 'will'be later described. On the front t e streamin h eat th u t 2 d stan e. behind th inlet r a. i enga e en re yi across the l 'g e in t9; thr aten 1 su h a ir h ough t e fiheth s fil er; marbeanyi or. the well 'a are 19w on. the martethstit was contemp k that it be an electrostatic; filterwhich is. capable? of freiQY QE Pali ig fi havin a cross; section offextmemely. small size. These filters are capable oii; removing dust. lld PQllfillS. from the airfwhichj are reputed toiicaus'e hay fever and; Qthertypesof allergies. If such a. filter is used, the requisite 'ele'ctrical power components must be supplied and. be arranged in the general area Within the evaporator. compartment designated; 23, which also} houses, the remainingrelectricaliand operatirig contrglstof theair conditioner-.1 w

When the air conditionerunit is operating on a; cooling cycle, both the refrigeration sys'tem'and-t'he air moving means are appropriately energized. Air frorn'within' connecting-with the 'bafiie and manually operated from the front of the machine.

When the air conditioner is operated for air purification only, it is unnecessary t9 energize the refrigeration system of the unit since cooling of the air is not actually desired. Accordingly, control means are provided which energize only the fan motor 12 while disconnecting the source of power to the corn n'ressor 9 Many room air c'onditioneri 6 in he marke provide mean for operating'oiilythe air moving components of the unit independently of the remaining components and one of these qontw l n a r n ement t0; Qbtainins this. p maeaun'... a t

ng. the 0 st t o of he i tQ- prQ-Yide qnly PUIlfiCQi-lOlLit is unnecessary to circulate a stream of air through the enser eernpartnn r t. In fact, such opera nqnhe a a,

9 5% I!) 1% fiflrhmd qdr 3'; he fan. 1 heme 5 2% 2911 1535 by aclutch. i as i sdfai he a mean ntpassager 2,4. "Means,- for open.

fan 11, the air stream -enco'unt'e'rs thel'a'ari'iei 3" is thereupon directed alonghhepass- 'v hand portion of the compartme V whereupon it passes through the evaporator 8 is: again dischargeddn'tothe roorfit hr'ough discharge opening" 14. This flow' of air; h tio'n is shown by'fthe' dot -dash lrn 'In order to "obtain' the henefits or haying culatedfrom within t he'encl i ingithe season whenf cooling s n 7 order to ohtaiirthis operation in thefm" mahnen' the present invention proyides" diverting the air strearntaroi nd h p discharging it directly into the e losure at it through the filter 2,1. "'Moreisp manna re l n ei batfie 'ewh tiori, shownin solid lin 2Q is iri its solid lihlepp v covers the opening to the a's's} due a I leads 'to fthe discharge 1 114 of I I compartment 6. b n upstream from the ev i f t g V,

i he la; wiaa 919 22.; e ssg e L 5 PhZZfil IQQPQ i;di har in :fl tedat. e n o; 70 ?fi kglq ll f tihr llgha hebypass dact 7 111% ar may be moved .c ,is to; the v a V l i A e an ll is actu dqftthe l 4; ally permitting the use'of lower fan speedsiitlie in'yent'ion pro j vides a great reduction in noise level during operat on of" the unit forf air purification purposes.

Slit-hereghas lieeniconnected in-serieswith the motor- 12,

a resistance- 32- designed' to -cut d'own' the current-supplied tor their moltenv 122.; A lowtv resistance shunting. line: 361 is- I connected around; their resistance 322and; provides. acon;v I ducting path of less resistance than the path throughLthe F resiston'timi. A normally closed .switcht34lis provided2in h ib ss ligeifi'ewhichg whe'ntclosed, P rmiwt -t S tor sed iwitn tt may e pm: upply ether tially high current to flow through the bypass line 33 thereby supplying power to the motor12. By means of a lever or switch arm 26a extending from the air baffle 26, which is operated simultaneously with the movement of the air baffle. 26 across the passage 24, the normally closed switch 34 is actuated into the open position. Upon the opening of the switch 34, the power supplied to the motor 12 must necessarily flow through the resistor 32, thereby reducing the current supplied to the motor 12 and reducing the velocity of the drive shaft 12a. Thus, by reducing the numbers of amps flowing through the motor 12, the speed of the drive shaft 12a is greatly reduced and the overall power consumption within, the line may also be reduced.

Since it is desirable to reduce the speed of drive motor 12 to obtain a reduction in power consumption, this reduction in speed may also be used advantageously to disconnect the condenser fan 16 from the drive shaft 12a in those units wherein both the condenser fan and the evap: orator fan are driven by the same motor. plished by providing a centrifugal clutch 28a which is designed to release the fan 16 at a predetermined velocity of the drive shaft 120. Thus, when the motor is operating at its maximum velocity and the air conditioning unit is operating on its normalcooling cycle. the centrifugal clutch 28a will engage the condenser fan 16 and thereby move the air stream through the condenser compartment 4. At the reduced operating speeds of the motor 12, when the unit is operating on the air purifying cycle only, the centrifugal clutch releases the condenser fan 16 and allows the shaft 12a to rotate without the. condenser fan, and thus eliminates the corresponding drag of the air stream blown through the condenser, compartment.

A second means for releasing the condenser fan is illustrated in Fig. 5. In this control scheme, when the switch 34 is operated to open its contacts and prevent shunting of current around the resistance bypass circuit 33 another circuit 36 containing an electromagnetic clutch coil 37 is de-energized. The electromagnetic clutch coil 37 actually forms a part of the electromagnetic clutch 28b, but for purposes of illustration it is shown schematic'ally'in Fig. 5 as a separate component. Thus, as the resistance 32 is thrown into the power line to the motor 12 the magnetic clutch 2817 which has been energized to lock the condenser fan 16 into engagement with the shaft 12a is tie-energized thereby releasing the shaft to turn'without the fan"16. By either of the above means it is possible to release the condenser fan from the motor shaft and run the motor shaft at reduced speed to thereby eifect a reduction in the power consumption of the drive motor 12. This s permissible because the air recirculating during the air purification operation is required to pass through only the filter and not both the filter and the evaporator.

Many air conditioners, now on the market, provide some means for ventilating the enclosure with fresh outside air. Since this outside air generally contains dust and many of the pollens which cause hay feverand other allergies, it is desirable that this outside air first pass through the filtering elements before being discharged vinto the room. Figs. 2 and 3 show a means by which this ventilation of outside air may be accomplished very simply during either the air purification cycle or the cooling cycles in the air conditioner of the present 1nvention. 1 I

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, there can be seen, in the lower portion of the unit, a duct'38 arranged to promote the flow of outside air through vent intake 39 along the duct 38 and discharge it through ventilator discharge opening 41 into the unit at a point just upstream from the filter member 21. Means are provided for closing the ventilator discharge opening 41 during. operation of the unit on either the air conditioning cycle or the air purification cycle. More specifically these means include a closure panel 42 having attached thereto a flexible air inlet panel 43 which slides upwardly along a track 44to Thisis accom-.

effectively close the room air inlet opening 13 whenever ventilation from the outside isdesirable. As may be seen in Fig. 3, wh eneverthe flexible inlet panel 43 is in its upwardmost position, it completely prevents air from entering the unit from withinthe enclosure. When the flexible air'inlet panel 43 is in this position, the closure panel 42 has been removed from the ventilator discharge opening 41.thereby'permitting outside air to flow through theairduct 38 into the area in compartment 6 just up stream from the filter 21. By operating the fan 11, when the flexible inlet panel 43 is in its upward position, air is vented into the evaporator compartment 6 from the outside and pulled through the filter 21 whereupon it ispassed along thepassage 24 and thereupon circulated either through the evaporator 8 or shunted through the bypass duct 27 depending upon the position of the air bafile 26. Thus, by having the outside air duct discharge within the unit at some point just upstream from the filter 21, complete filtering of the outside air is obtained prior to its discharge into the enclosure, thereby removing all. detrimental dust and pollens included in the air supply for ventilation purposes.

By the present invention there has been provided an air conditioning unit having a filter and air flow arrangement permitting economical and continuous operation of the unit for air purification purposes even during those periods when the unit is not operated for its cooling function. Furthermore, this arrangement also permits operation of the air moving means of the system at a reduced capacity while maintaining a volume of air flow corresponding to that obtained during operation of the unit on the air cooling cyclewhich results in a less noisy operation, The present invention further provides, in combination with its economical air purification operation, a ventilating arrangement whereby outside air may be continuously circulated through the filter prior to being discharged into the enclosure. v

While in accordance with the patentstatutes there has been described What at present is considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, ,it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, the aim of the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifica- 1. 'tions as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a room air conditioning unit having an evaporator arranged within an inner compartment, the combination comprising air moving means in said inner compartment for circulating a stream of air from inside a room over said evaporator, said air moving means being disposed upstream from said evaporator, a filtcr dispos'ed across the path of said air stream circulated through said inner compartment, air bypass means in said inner compartment having an opening arranged upstream from said evaporator and downstream from said filter, air bafl'le means disposed downstream from said filter and movable across the path of said air stream circulating in said inner compartment for shunting said air stream into said air bypass means around said evaporator and into the said room thereby to permit circulation of room air through said filter without passing through said evaporator and meansfor decreasing the speed of operation of said air moving means in said inner compartment thereby to reduce the power consumption of said air moving means during operation of said unit for air filtering only.

2. An air conditioner for conditioning a roomcomprising a housing, said housing being divided into a plu-I rality of compartments including an inner compartment disposed adjacent a room to be conditioned, an evaporator in said inner. compartment, air moving means for circulating a stream of air. from said room through said inner compartment over said evaporator and discharging it back into said room, said air moving means being. disposed upstreamfroni s'aid' evaporator,'ia 'filterdisposed across the .path of v'air'stream circulating "withi'ni'sa'id' inner compartment, a il'iypa'ss air 'du'ctflin said inner *co'mpartment for bypassing 'airar'ound said evaporator, said bypass duct havinganopenin'g arranged downstream from said filter and upstream from 'said evaporator, an air bathe "in said inner compartment normally p sitioned across said opening 'of said bypass duct; said ai ,bf'afiie. arranged, for movementacross said. air stream. circulating through evaporator thereby shunting said streami'rit'o said bypass duct and means, to condition said air moving means for operation atv decreased. capacity whereby the power consump'tionfor continuously circu.-. latin'gai'r from withinthe room through .said inner compartment is reduced.v v

3. An air conditioner for conditioning aroom comprising ahousing, ajbarrier dividing said housing into an inner compartment and an outer..compart n 1ent,.aconden'sing unit in. said outerncompartmenalan evaporator in said inner compartment, afirst fan for circulating a stream of 'air from said room through.said rinner,com-- partment over said evaporator.andidischarging. it back into. said room, a second fan for circulatinga'stream of air through said outer compartmentover saidcondenser, a filter disposed across the pathof said-air stream1circulating Within. said inner compartment, :a common drive;

' motor connected .to. each of said fans to operate said; fans for circulating said air streams, a bypass ductin-said, inner compartment for bypassing aroundasaid evaporator, an air baflie in. saidinner. compartment normally: positioned acros's said bypass duct, saidairbaiiie arranged. for movement across said air stream..circulatingnwithint said inner. compartment thereby shunting-.saidtair stream,

- into said bypass. ductand around said-evaporator; means duct means for introducing outside air into saidninner.

compartment at apoint upstream from; said filter, whereby fresh filtered outside air may be; vented into:said room;

-5. An air conditioner for conditioning awroomicomprising a housing, a barrier dividing. saidihousingsi'into an. inner compartmentand an outeracompartrnena air inlet. and discharge openings in-teach of, said: compartments-,a condensing unitin said-outercompartnaentxand evap-x 8 ing outside air into said inner compartment at a.point upstreamfrom said electrostatic filter'and downstream from-saidinlet 'opening,means for 'closingsaid air inlet opening to-said-first compartment: when said vent means. is conditionedto? vent "outside fair into; said inner compar'nnent wherebyjfreshputside" air may .be circulated through :saiddectrostatic filter prior to being discharged into saidmoom; I i

'6. An aircendinoner for conditioning a room 'com-' prising. -a housing, "afbarrierdividing said housing into an irmer compa'rtnrent' and an outer compartment, air

inlet and discharge; openings in'each of said compartments, 1a condensingun'it in said outer compartment and an evaporator in said-inner compartment, a first fan for circulating a stream of air from said. room through said inner compartment over said evaporator and discharging centrifugal clutch for engaging said 'drive'm'otor"shaft said second ran atapredeterminedrotational speed of said drive shaft; and. means actuated. by. 'r'novement of said baffle across said air stream to decrease the a speed ofsaid drivdinotor. and thereby reduce the speed of said shaft.,be low said predetermined rotational speed therebyto disconnect saidisecond fan fromwsaid drive shaftwand to operate said-rfirsflfan at a reducedspeed whereby power consumption of said common drive motor is reduced (during; operation of said firstfan totprovide ciroulationsof air from; within .said room through said. filter and said bypass duct V a a 7. An conditioner-for conditioningiat roomaeom- V prising-a;honsing, ia barrier'dividingsaid housingdnto an orator in saidinner compartment, afan for circulating a,

stream of. air from saidroom through said-inner zoom: partrnent over -said evaporatorvand.dischargingritiback into. said; room, ,a: second fan for circulating. :a stream of; outside -;air throughqsaid outerucompartment ouertt said condenser, .an electrostatic-filter. disposedjacross theipathi of said. air streamcirculating within'rsaidrinner compart-n ment, .said' electrostatic. .filter being.disposed downstream; from said .air inlet opening in: said inneraoompartment, a bypass air ductin saidinner. compartment for bypassing: air around 'saidevaporator, an air;bafiie in saidinnenieome partment normally positioned across; said bypass duct;-

said air baffle arranged- Jfor movement aerossHsaid-air inneracompa' tment and an outer compartment; air inlet.

' and discharge:- openingsin eaeh of saidscompartments, ta

condensing-unit in isaidrouter, compartment; and an evaporator in said; inner compartment, a; fiIStaEEfi-Il fO'1' circu lating aistreamzoii air from saidroom through said; inner eompartment.==.over;, said; .evaporatori and discharging, it; backiintosaid room ia second fan for circulatingrapstream ofi air through-said -outer-compartment over said lcon denser, an; electrical drive -motor having a common drive shaft fdr operating: both, ofi I said fans, to. circulate Psaid air to said dri ve shaft sat: a predetermined rotational 1 speed of- -saidshaft',' =said==olutch releasing said fan :when i drive -shaftfalls belo w saidpredetermined-specie filter disposed=-across-' the path -ofsaid-air stream cirtmlatin'g within said inner compartment; a bypass: 1 duct irn'saidinner compartment for bypassing around said evap-' orator, an air baiiie said' innercompartment and normally positioned across-said bypass duct, saidair bafile" arranged jfor'inovement across said air 'stream' circulatingwithin'said inner compartment thereby Shuntingsaid air stream into said bypass duct and around said evapdr'ator','"a circuifsupplying electrical .curren'tto said motor, an electrical resistor, switch" means for introducing said resistor into said electrical circuit to "said motor-for reducing the current supplied to said motor'and thereby reduoing the rotational speed of said drive 'shafflbeiow said predetermined speed, and a s'witchliaiimfeirtending ondtfan and said fan is operated at a reduced speed 9 for circulating an air stream from within said room through said filter and said bypass duct.

8. An air conditioner for conditioning a room comprising a housing, a barrier dividing said housing into an inner compartment and an outer compartment, air inlet and discharge openings in each of said compartments, a condensing unit in said outer compartment and an evaporator in said inner compartment, a first fan for circulating a stream of air from said room through said inner compartment over said evaporator and discharging it back into said room, a second fan for circulating'a stream of air through said outer compartment over said condenser, an electrical drive motor having a common drive shaft for operating both of said fans to circulate said air streams, an electromagnetic clutch having a coil which may be energized and de-energized to respectively connect and disconnect, said second fan to said drive shaft, a filter disposed across the path of said air stream circulating Within said inner compartment, a bypass air duct in said inner compartment for bypassing air around said evaporator, an air baffle in said inner compartment normally positioned across said bypass duct, said air bafile arelectrical resistor, and switch means for introducing said resistor into said electrical circuit to said motor for reducing the current supplied to said motor thereby reducing the rotational speedof said drive shaft, said switch means also de-energizing said electromagnetic clutch when said electrical resistor is introduced into said circuit to said motor, and a switch arm extending from said air References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,451,366 Terry Oct. 12, 1948 2,502,980 Moore Apr. 4, 1950 2,540,957 Newton Feb. 6, 1951 2,720,090 Ford Oct. 11, 1955 2,724,247 Kurtz Nov. 22, 1955 2,736,176 Carlton Feb. 28, 1956 2,768,514 McGrath Oct. 30, 1956 2,810,273

Bilgrei et al Oct. 22, 1957 

